Comparative influence of bias and nucleation layer thickness on the heteroepitaxial growth of InN on AlN-nucleated (111) silicon and (00.1) sapphire

The effects of bias and nucleation layer thickness on heteroepitaxy in thin films of InN grown at 400 °C on semiconducting (111) silicon and insulating (00.1) sapphire are shown to be dramatically different. For example, the thickness of an InN film on nucleated (00.1) sapphire is independent of bias, while on nucleated (111) silicon the thickness varies by over a factor of two. Similarly, the excellent epitaxy of the InN films on nucleated (00.1) sapphire is unaffected by bias or AlN layer thickness, while quality epitaxy on nucleated (111) silicon is achieved only in a narrow range of these parameters. Determining the bounds for heteroepitaxial growth on (111) silicon is a crucial first step toward devices incorporating both sources or detectors and processing elements.